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Long time MSE forum member and contributor but never actually got around to setting up an Avatar or collecting badges. As I hit my 750+ post the other week and seemed to acquire a bit of green ribbon to go with my three stars against my username that gave me the push along to look at the badges that others had against their name. Time for me to catch up I thought....so...

Uniform Washer
I haven't had to wear a uniform at work for some years but both my grown up children do. I helped both of them with letters to the tax office using the MSE template and both now have tax rebates/credits. My son has since shared this with others at his place of work and so at least five other of his friends/colleagues have also benefitted.

Holiday Haggler
I don't smoke, drink only a little but Mrs.Westin and I enjoy our many overseas holidays. Holiday Haggling is the norm. We will sometimes go on package deals, sometimes making our own arrangements - the key is to price things out, look for deals but always also consider what can go wrong. Saving is good but not at the detriment of having a safe and secure holiday. We for example knew about Low Cost Holidays moving their operation overseas some years back and no longer having bonding. I wouldn't use them for that reason. I research travel companies in advance and would not use many based on negative reports from others. We will shop on line, talk to our travel agent and call tour operators directly. We will not waste their time but will politely ask if they can improve on a price or offer us an extra. Call centre agents I have often found will have sales targets. Towards the end of the month they can often be very keen to hit a sales target and will be keen to close a sale and get your booking. Many Operators give call agents "sales enablers" - we have managed to get free airport lounge passes, a room upgrade and money off simply by pushing the agent politely and saying "if I book with you now - can you give me something to close the deal". Suggest something reasonable and often I have found it will be granted. Touch wood it always seems to work.

OK - that's my badge crawling bit.

Now for a suggestion.

For a new badge, how about one for a large discount or substantial amount of money off an item by using a coupon or voucher. Might seem obvious and I think we have all used money off coupons once in a while but I can't see a badge for that. How about some great stories of massive savings similar to those people you see on certain TLC TV shows who seem to get their weekly shop for free from clipping half a dozen coupons from the Radio Times.

Finally - I also take some credit for getting you to change one of your badges. Do you remember those badge acknowledgments for the number of postings (before they changed to the current coloured circles). I think they were designed to look like a certificate but they were so small it was impossible to tell. I remarked on a forum that they looked like margarine lids and questioned there look. They changed shortly afterwards to the current icon. Perhaps that one you might hold against me

I started the above thread last July and it was mentioned in one of the MSE weekly newsletters but even though I contacted you and sent you the above link I never got my badge. I did not know I was entitled to a badge until one of my regular posters (Queen of Cheap) told me. In fact she also contacted you because I was having trouble sending you the link. ETA. And it still looks like I am having trouble with the link. Just tried it and it is wrong again. Mmmmmm!! If at first you don't succeed try and try again. Yay!! After trying about 8 times I think I have finally managed to add the correct link to my thread. Hoorah!!

2014: switched to E.ON via Cheap Energy Club (CEC)
2015: stayed with E.ON, switched to a cheaper tariff after checking comparison sites and CEC
2016: will do something similar this year, but the annual gas usage estimate will be interesting as we had a new A-rated boiler installed 2 months ago (compared to the G-rated one we used to have).

I'm afraid I can't remember the savings, but E.ON reduced my monthly direct debit from £57 to £45 due to reduction in our usage.

2014: switched to E.ON via Cheap Energy Club (CEC)
2015: stayed with E.ON, switched to a cheaper tariff after checking comparison sites and CEC
2016: will do something similar this year, but the annual gas usage estimate will be interesting as we had a new A-rated boiler installed 2 months ago (compared to the G-rated one we used to have).

I'm afraid I can't remember the savings, but E.ON reduced my monthly direct debit from £57 to £45 due to reduction in our usage.

2010-2012 with Scottish Power ( No problems)
2012 Switched to EDF
2013. Switched to M & S Energy ( via Quidco with cash back)
2014. Switched to Co-Op Energy ( least said about this the better)
2015 Switched to E-On via MSE,changed tarrif with them 2 in 2 weeks as they kept bringing out better deals. Still with them with a fix till March 2017, but I will change again if a better deal comes along.

Congrats, you're already on a cheap deal, but...
That's not all Energy Club is about. Energy Club monitoring is now switched ON so we'll alert you when your tariff can be beaten. You're done for now!

”

from the Cheap Energy Club. The CEC can no longer offer me a cheaper deal than my current deal (and probably won't for the duration of this deal.)

I've also checked with all the energy comparison sites / companies, and they all say the same thing - Your current plan is the cheapest at this time, (and that's excluding all the additional discounts not available with other energy suppliers.)

Hi Mr Badger, I sorted out my home phone/broadband last month using the MSE guide (customer retentions and whatnot) and got a great bargain - I'm now paying £25 per month including line rental for EE fibre broadband, no additional costs/set up fees, one month free in an 18 month contract and an additional 5GB data on my mobile contract with them even after we'd agreed the terms for my home phone/broadband. Is this worthy of the haggling badge?

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